is it wrong if i get pissed if somebody changes the part (and it doesnt sound good or better) because its my song and its supposed to sound how i want if i wrote it all right?

i think i just cant be in a band with anybody cause everyone i play with is either really into metal or really into blink-182 and nobody seems to like the music i like and wanna make... am i being egotistical in saying this? should i have to settle for someone else if im not happy with it? what do you guys do with situations like this,

i just cant find anybody that i like there style in music, im in a band but the music this bassist we just got writes just doesnt sound good and i dont wanna be an egotistical asshole you know?

god i dont even know why im writing this i guess i just need some reassurance that this isnt crazy

dullsilver_mike

01-08-2008, 02:42 AM

No one here can fully answer this because we don't know how objective you're being in listeining to others' alterations to your songs. Maybe the other parts are better and make the song work better, but you're so attached to your own works that you think the original is always best. On the other hand, maybe you're totally right and this bass player ruins the songs.

It's not at all uncommon for people to want extreme control over their own art but (secret truth) most great art gets edited and changed by other people. Your best bet is to play both versions of a song and ask a third party which one is best.

Is it unreasonable to want full control over something you put a lot of time into and did all the work on? No. Does is stifle the quality of the art to assert this complete controll? More often than not, Yes. Maybe you just have a ****ty bass player too ;)

lolmnt

01-08-2008, 10:03 AM

If the suggestion they make improves the song (in everyones mind, not just your own) then go ahead and change it. I'm not sure how long your band will last, with you being into one type of music, and the rest not liking it. You should keep playing with them though, just for the experience. Keep writing and have fun with music

axemanchris

01-08-2008, 07:33 PM

Before taking on members, make sure everyone knows their place. Don't take them on and then throw surprises at them. That isn't fair.

If you establish from the beginning that you want someone who can and will play the parts as they are written, and you take on a player under that premise, they need to put out or get out. They're not doing their job. I know a person who works like that, and she has gotten some really good gigs at casinos and stuff. Me, personally.... I'd go mental. But that's a personal preference.

For me, I'm a good guitarist and a decent singer. I have a working knowledge of nearly all other western instruments, but I don't pretend to be a trombone player or a cello player or whatever any more than I pretend to be a drummer or a bass player. Sure, I could play a part that works, but the difference between a drummer or a bass player and someone who can simply play the instruments is how they approach it. To be a drummer; to be a bass player, means that you think like one, which takes a certain level of commitment to the instrument beyond a cursory level of competence. The difference between what I would come up with as a bass part and what an actual bass player would come up with would *usually* come out with the bass player on top.

For that reason, I take a more democratic approach to being in a band. People take ownership of the project if they have a say in it, which means they're more apt to stick around through tough times. Who am I to tell someone who has been playing bass for 20 years that they should just keep their ideas to themself and play what I wrote? Silly.